Friday, May 28, 2010

Ecuador Miscellany

Ecuador Month here at the Bureau is nearing its end but there will be another one in the Fall when a new set of scans arrives.

I found something touching about the domestic nature of this display at a cemetery---a fragment of a fussy living room.

This is not Photoshoped. The Shuar had no tradition of animal husbandry and no refrigeration. After they slaughtered this steer (and did a bad job) I found its head in the stream we drew our drinking water from. A misguided attempt at preservation?

This drunken American, whose name I've forgotten, was playing the role of the white man disintegrating in the tropics, at a furious pace. That was not his Edsel.

2 comments:

You're right. I was leaning over the pool and sinking a plastic jerrycan to fill with water when I saw the cow's head staring up at me. That was a shock but I recovered, ran back to the hut we were staying in and returned with my camera. I should mention that "Shuar" is the name of the Native Americans we staying with and not the cow.